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Sep 26, 2008 9:53 pm US/Central
Man's Best Friend Stolen With Van
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Lilly's food bowl sits empty as Gene Voss waits for word of her whereabouts.
CBS
A Naperville business owner lost his best friend and his only transportation when his van was stolen Wednesday.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports the dog's survival could depend on good tips to police.
Gene Voss, 64, said his 13-year-old black Labrador, Lilly, was inside his dark green 2001 Chevrolet Venture minivan when it was stolen at about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday from outside his dry cleaning business, One-Hour Martinizing at 215 E. Ogden Ave. in Naperville. The van's license plate number is 520-3280.
Lilly has arthritis and can barely stand, much less fend for herself, and she has been missing for two days now. The dog was sleeping in Voss' delivery van was stolen.
Voss says left it parked here with the windows down while he dropped off some clothes to be cleaned. He came out to make the next run, to an empty parking space.
"It can't be," Voss said. "Where did it go? Where's my dog?"
The owner of the strip mall Voss was visiting said he was standing just feet away, watching when the van backed away from the store, but at the time, he didn't realize that the person inside was stealing it.
Voss and the strip mall owner tried to follow the driver east on Ogden Avenue but never spotted it.
Back at the store, Lilly's dish sits unfilled, and her companion keeps busy to try to fill the emptiness in his heart.
"My dog lives with me, comes to work every day with me," Voss said. "It's a complete loss. It's like losing a child."
He's making deliveries out of a rental car now, hoping someone will at least tell him where Lilly might be.
"Call where my dog is," Voss pleaded. "That's all. That's all I want to know."
There's a $1,000 reward being offered in the case.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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